Kamui-Rella (or,Candy-coated fluff)
by EKBlack
Summary: *Chapter 8 is in* My first fic;it's an AU and is probably not going to go above PG-13. Kam/Sub. The cast in Cinderella.Despite the title, not that fluffy.Rated PG-13 for caution on my part. R/R please!
1. The Beginning

**Candy-coated Fluff or, Kamui-rellaTM **

Cast of Characters: Kamui Shirou as Kamui-rella, Subaru Sumeragi as the Prince; Seiichiro Aoki as the Father; Kanoe as the Stepmother; Satsuki as Ugly Stepsister 1; Kotori Monou as the Good Mother who Died; Hinoto as the Fairy Godmother who Slept too Much; Kakyou as the King, Karen Kasumi as the Queen, Nataku as the Princess; Fuuma Monou as Evil Stepsister 2. Others introduced at random. 

STANDARD DISCLAIMER and a FEW NOTES: None of this belongs to me!! (I wished) I am poor and unable to find work...so don't sue! CLAMP-sama owns all of this. Some jokes are only amusing if you know enough about the manga. Also, there might be some SLASH and hints of lime. So watch out and don't flame me merely for that. (Although flames are okay)

Once upon a time there was a successful businessman who had a very happy family consisting of his loving wife and gender-confused son. One day, though, the wife fell ill because she saw a bird decapitated on a windowpane and was soon dying. The businessman tried to find some cure for her constant babbling about somebody named "Kakyou" but she died anyway, somehow murdered by a mysterious flying sword. Kamui fell into a catatonic state at her deathbed and Seiichiro was of course heartbroken. He journeyed throughout the land searching for someone who could help the beautiful Kamui but had to give it up for no one could think of a way to free Kamui. 

Now one day as Seiichiro rode past a small village in the woods a young man ran up to him and begged for a ride. Noting that the young man was quite polite and handsome, Seiichiro pulled him on the horse and rode home. However, he did not see the seven gangsters in the undergrowth as they emerged from the forest. 

Subaru was very grateful and asked Seiichiro if he desired anything. Of course Seiichiro wanted his Kamui healed, and so Subaru was taken to the bedside of the pretty invalid and left there to try to cure the boy. Eventually he used his telepathic powers to dive deep into Kamui's somewhat mutilated psyche and pull him from its depths. Seiichiro was so happy that he offered Subaru whatever he Wished but the young man denied and left.

Now Seiichiro, being a vigorous man in his prime, wanted another wife to take care of his son (and himself). And so he attended a ball at the Diet manor and there a dark lady named Kanoe managed to convince him that she was a excellent candidate. "I have two daughters though," she told him as they rode home to inform Kamui of the news. "Or, rather, one who is really a girl and another who is rather confused."

"Why of course," said Seiichiro, sweatdropping only a tiny bit. "My child is a tad disoriented as well." (They chuckle as though it was an inside joke.)

Kamui was not particularly enthusiastic to share Seiichiro with others, although Kanoe assured him that neither Satsuki nor Fuuma were mean and unkind. 

So Kanoe and her two children moved in shortly thereafter. The first time Kamui met Fuuma the latter went directly for the former's neck and could only be dragged from the choking Kamui by Satsuki, Seiichiro, and Kanoe combined. Satsuki was rather indifferent to Kamui, though, and they spoke to each other very little.

One day Seiichiro perished suddenly while selling Piffle Princess wares in a far county. Immediately Kanoe forced Kamui to take on the huge burden of maintaining the house, including polishing Fuuma's Shinken and Satsuki's massive supercomputer Beast. Though it was more than enough work to keep Kamui busy from dawn to dusk, Kanoe also made him oil her large collection of whips and polish her equally large collection of chains, not to mention laundering everyone's numerous articles of clothing.

For a time Kanoe and her daughters lived with Kamui in this house, abusing the poor young man to unimaginable lengths. As the week drew on, Fuuma and Kanoe forced Kamui from his small attic room and into the cold stone hearth, where he could draw only a bit of warmth from the dying embers.

One night, as Kamui shuddered under his flimsy blanket beside the ashes, he tried to coax a tiny ember into some semblance of flame to warm himself somewhat. Just then it started to snow outside, and a chill gale swept down the chimney and Kamui shivered, drawing his blanket tighter around himself. "Oh, how I wish Papa was still alive…" He rubbed at his eyes with a grimy sleeve. 

Suddenly there came a rap-rapping on the windowpane. "Who could that be?" Kamui wondered, stumbling to the window and pushing his delicate white nose against the frigid glass. And gasped.

It was a puppy. Or at least, it seemed to be one. And there was a young girl with closely cut hair behind it, her hand on its collar. "Sir," she said, "we are but a mere band of merchants in this blizzard…could you let us in? Please, Sir?"

Kamui, slightly stunned, went to the foyer and pushed aside the bolts and opened the door to a blue-nosed group of shivering people. The girl, with the puppy lolling in her arms, came in first, sneezed, and smiled at Kamui. "Thank you." After her came a large man…a very large man with an equally large coat. And then there was a handsome blond man in a leather trench coat. Kamui goggled at them as the girl latched the door. 

"Thank you so much, Sir!" She bowed. Kamui bowed stiffly back, his purple eyes wide. The girl took a covered basket from the large man and handed it to Kamui. "This is our little thanks." 

"What is it?" Kamui pushed the cloth aside. "Oh my! Pocky!"

"Yes," replied the girl. "Compliments of Yuzuriha-Kusanagi Limited. There's strawberry Pocky, milk Pocky, and chocolate Pocky." The large man bobbed his head with Yuzuriha. Kamui would have refused, but they insisted for his hospitality, and so Kamui found some new friends.

Later that night one of the handsome blond men introduced himself to Kamui over a cup of cider. "So, Kamui-chan, why aren't you in bed?" He winked. Kamui chewed his lip. "Well, Stepmother Kanoe thinks that it is better to have me sleep here, so that I can prepare breakfast without having to go anywhere." Indeed, the fireplace was located in the kitchen.

"That doesn't sound very nice of her," said Yuuto. "In fact, it's downright vicious."

"Yeah," agreed Yuzuriha. "I hope she didn't do anything else as mean."

Kamui sighed. "But she did. I have to polish my stepsiblings' stuff too…Satsuki-chan's Beast and oniichan's sword…" here he looked down at his hands resting in his lap and sighed again. 

"What's the matter, Kamui?" Yuuto asked solicitously. "What did oniichan do?"

"He…he…" Kamui finally held up one of his hands, palm facing the travelers. They gaped in horror. "Why, Kamui! Did he make those horrible scars?"

"Yes." Kamui sighed again, close to tears. "But Stepmother Kanoe said that he was quite nice before he came here…maybe it's just me." And he promptly broke down into tears.

They had quite a time attempting to comfort Kamui, but when the boy recovered, they resolved that all three of the visitors would hide in the house and help Kamui.

The next day was heavy with snow, but Kamui was still made to polish the ice-chill Beast who growled at him, and the Shinken with which Fuuma had pierced his palm as well. When he went to Kanoe's room to oil her whips, though, he found her chatting with Yuuto. After a few minutes of their hedonistic talk, a red-faced Kamui went back downstairs. As he scrubbed the tiles in the bathroom, Yuzuriha popped in with her Inuki. "Hey Kamui! Wanna go with us to the Fair tomorrow? There'll be lots of fun things to look at and buy."

Kamui sadly shook his head. " I don't think so, Yuzuriha-chan. Kanoe would never let me."

Yuzuriha winked at him. "Well, she'll be rather occupied tomorrow. And so will Satsuki and Beast."

Kamui recalled Kanoe's conversation with Yuuto and brightened. "But…Satsuki?"

"Well, Kamui," said Satsuki, descending the stairs languidly, her eyes unusually bright behind her glasses. "At last you've done something right." Yuuto and Kanoe appeared by her side, Kanoe somewhat more under-dressed than usual. Kamui averted his eyes and focused on Satsuki. "This Yuuto person will amuse us quite well." She flounced to her room, Kanoe and Yuuto following. 

"See?" Yuzuriha smiled at Kamui. "So you wanna go?"

"Of course!"

Three bundled figures ventured from the manor house the next day, Yuzuriha with Inuki in her arms, Kusanagi with many baskets of Pocky in his large fists. Kamui was ecstatic at being away from home, and actually skipped part of the way to the Fair.

The Fair was highly visible, even in the snow. Enormous banners stretched between sakura trees, painted in red and black. "Wow," Kamui murmured when he saw the rows and rows of pavilions and stalls set up in the little bowl of land he was looking down upon. "What's that?" He pointed at a small blood-colored booth beside a blooming sakura tree. It was made even more prominent by the empty ring around it; obviously the other vendors had avoided that stall. 

"That's…that's the Sakurazukamori." Yuzuriha whispered. "He's really strange. Keep away from him." Of course this only aroused Kamui's curiosity. "What is that?"

"Uhhhh…" Yuzuriha looked distinctly uncomfortable. "He kills people to feed to that tree."

"The-that blooming one?"

Yuzuriha nodded grimly. "That's the one..."

Kamui drew in a shallow breath and slipped down the hill with his friends.

Notes: This is my very first published fic! Please, all comments welcome. I feel that there aren't enough X fics out there and so...here it goes. :: gulps::

This is set at no particular point in the manga, by the way. 


	2. The Message

**Kamui-rellatm or, candy-coated fluff, chapter 2**

**Disclaimer** and notes: I don't own this or anything else CLAMP came up with...I wasn't sure if this was a genuine humor X fic or something more like a general fic or maybe a crossover, since it has the X cast in Cinderella...anyway, please read & review!! arigatou!

Kamui sucked in the frigid air with gusto, even though it burnt as it was drawn down his windpipe. Yuzuriha and Kusanagi had set up the stand of Pocky as far from the blossoming Sakura tree as they could, but he found it hard to avoid looking in the direction of the mysterious and frightening but curiously intriguing man who sat with his feet propped up on the trunk of the tree. "What does he sell?" Kamui poked Yuzuriha, nodding in the direction of the man.

"Dunno...I heard he's some sort of mercenary...but you know, you can't be sure." Yuzuriha blinked her eyes. "Why'd you want to know? Just keep away from him, okay?" She turned back to the clamoring children.

They packed up the remnants of the Pocky in baskets at dusk, and Kamui slowed his footsteps as he passed the cherry tree. The man was gone but a puddle of dried blood was on the floor of the stall. Quickly running to his friends, the boy decided that he'd take their advice and keep away from the strange man. 

Yuuto, Satsuki, and Kanoe were still well occupied when Kusanagi opened the door to the manor, judging by the giggles from upstairs. "Hmmm..." Kusanagi said something to Yuzuriha, but before she could tell Kamui in turn he ran off to the kitchen, bright red.

A few weeks passed thus for Kamui and his newly expanded household (for Kanoe seemed quite intent on keeping Yuuto), surprisingly peaceful. But then another disruption came along...

Kamui was scrubbing the floor when the messenger of the king arrived. "Is the master of the house present?" Kamui nodded dumbly, dazed by the courier's dress, and went to call Kanoe, who descended in her sleek high-slit (of course) afternoon skirt. "Yes?"

"M'lady," the courier said, his eyes slightly protruding from their sockets, "the king wishes to inform the kingdom's young ladies to the three Balls which shall be held next week at the Royal Palace."

Kanoe nodded graciously, patting her skirt with a long-nailed hand. The courier gasped for air and continued. "And...so..." his voice petered off.

"Inform his Majesty that we will of course attend the Balls." Satsuki and Fuuma appeared, the former with a half-undressed Yuuto in tow, the latter with his customary evil grin. "And of course my children shall attend as well." She patted her skirt again.

"Ye-yes...of course..." the courier was very red in the face. "And..." his eyes skipped to the pale purple-eyed boy who was still wide-eyed and staring on the floor not two feet away. "And this young man..."

Kanoe sneered. "No. He is our _servant_. He is unfit for attending such a formal occasion." Kamui slowly lowered his head. "But I'm sure their Majesties and his Highness shall find my children enchanting. More than enough to make up for this." And she smiled, similar to how a tigress might smile upon the deadly snap of a prey's neck. The Royal messenger gulped and rapidly removed himself from her foyer.

* So, how was this chapter? Shorter than the last one, but I think it's written somewhat better. Please review and tell me if I should keep going!Eva_kokaze_black*

also, for a small cast of characters please see Chapter One.


	3. The Fairy Godmother

Kamui-rella, or, Candy-coated Fluff chapter 3

Standard disclaimer: none of the charaacters belong to me; CLAMP owns 'em all...*sob*anyway, hope you like this...I thought the idea would be funny but it might not be amusing unless you have decent knowledge of the X manga.

"Well then, Kamui-rella, you'd better finish that tub of washing and the dishes before we get home," Kanoe said, as she descended the stairs in a leather sheath cut in a highly flattering manner. "And don't forget dear Beastie upstairs," Satsuki added, in a tan trench-coat style dress, wearing contacts for once. "Use the No.7 High Shine polish."

Kamui nodded without enthusiasm. It was bad enough having to do the mountainous pile of laundry and the similarly sized heap of dishes, but now an extra polishing of the supercomputer...and with his stepfamily hurrying off to a once-in-a-lifetime ball...well, thrice in a lifetime, but still. More than enough for self-pity. He sighed and resumed the tiny, black-lace merry widow that he had been washing. 

A sudden shadow caused him to look up. Fuuma was leering at him, clad in a blood-colored velvet greatcoat and with his hair properly groomed for once. In his right hand was the coldly gleaming Shinken. "Kamui-rella," he hissed in that oh-so-sadmasochistic voice of his, "kindly give Shinken-san a go, will you?" Kamui shuddered but nodded, fingering the pinkish scars on the backs of his hands.

And they left, dragging Yuuto behind them to the carriage. Yuzuriha and Kusanagi had gone off to buy more Pocky from a wholesaler, and so Kamui was all alone with his tears and a slab of yellow soap for the washing. After about half an hour or so, he put down the soap and wiped his chilled hands on his knees. Pacing to the window, he wondered if he should just walk out into the cold and forget about this horrid life. The snow was falling in smooth drifts, and it could be peaceful to lie under the great gray-white sky, sleeping forever..he put his forehead to the window and caught sight of a gray something in the whiteness. _A stone?_ He blinked at it for a few seconds and then went to find a blanket to wrap around himself, opened the door, and went out into the world of white silence.

He almost stumbled over the gray thing before he saw it, small in the snow. Kneeling, he pushed aside the flakes which stung his hand and read Kotori's name. "Mother.."Kamui cried, pushing his knuckles on the stone so roughly that they bled. He proceeded to bawl out his troubles to the tombstone, ending with a loud sob. He wept for a while. 

Kamui lifted his head when he heard a girlish giggle. "Who's there?" 

It was a silver-haired girl in volumnious white robes. "Hey Kamui."

"How'd you know my name?!" Kamui stood, his face red with tears and cold. "Who are you?"

"I'm Hinoto," the strange girl said. "I'm your seer Godmother."

*NOTES* Thank you JJ-chan for bearing with me while i typed this chapter...

coming next chapter, Belle of the Ball; Subaru and Nataku's cameos. Please be nice and write a review if you liked the story...or if you didn't, for that matter. Eva-kokaze-black ^_^;;


	4. The Preparations

Kamui-rella, or, Candy-coated fluff : Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em...don't sue me...thank you...

Some Rambling prior to the tale: uhhh...this is really a crazy idea. I don't know if it's really humorous or what, but anyway..just read/review, onegai!*hugs Kamui plushie clad in the Disney version of Cinderella's dress*Aie! Kamui-chan!*adoring grin*oh...some strange stuff(i.e, gender disorientation) in this chapter...and the following ones. Enjoy!

Kamui stared at the girl with silvery hair in perplexity, his brows furrowed. "Godmother?"

Hinoto nodded in her customarily drowsy way. "That's me." She sighed as Kamui started to get up and walk away as though she was some obviously insane woman who'd just told him she was really a blue mold-covered prune. "Your bumbling parents forgot to tell you, I suppose."

Her godson nodded, still with the "you're-nuts-I'm-outta-here" expression on his face. He tugged at his blanket, which was falling off his thin shoulder, and blinked at Hinoto. "Papa never said anything about it." He sighed, looking down at his feet, which were sinking into the snow. "Neither did Mother..."

Hinoto sighed also, twiddling her fingers as a bleak fury appeared on Kamui's face. "So...why didn't you save them?" His eyes were wide and tears trickled from them freely onto the snow. "Why? If you're a fairy.."

"A Dreamgazer, actually."Hinoto rolled her eyes at his angst.

"Whatever. Why didn't you use your white magic?"

Hinoto bowed. "Gomenasai." She straightened and coughed a few times, obviously pondering a change of subject. "Uh...tell me why you're here..Kamui.."

Kamui narrowed his violet eyes at her, still sulky. "You know why."

Hinoto coughed again. "Oh..yes. The balls. The Prince is seeking a companion." She refrained from "wife"--the times had changed; no longer was it fully correct to use "wife". "And you.." she pointed at Kamui imperiously, "want to attend them."

Kamui ground his teeth and nodded. "Yes. And Stepmother won't let me go."

His Godmother bowed her head. "So. I may be able to help you."

"How?"

She climbed from the tombstone, a most wet and uncomfortable perch, and whispered in her Godson's ear (Author: sorry...if you wanna know what it was you gotta read more). Kamui's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yep." The glint in Hinoto's eyes was almost evil. "We'll wow 'em."

Kamui did not look at all certain of this. "Are you sure his Highness likes that kind of thing?"

"Oh yes."

About twenty minutes later, Kamui emerged from the manorhouse in a black leather tank top with a ostentaiously large zipper that read "open here," to his great chagrin. His trousers were leather as well, and the boy had thanked god that Hinoto had not thought to add any magical lettering to anything else thereof. His face was hot just thinking about how she'd dress him the next two nights. "Lace and velvet and clear plastic, my boy," she'd promised with that evil gleam. Kamui grinned mischivieously, to his own shame, and was brought back to reality when he shuddered. He was a few feet from the door of the manor, knee-deep in snow. And he was blue with cold.

As he wondered if his Highness had any interest in sexually confused ice pops, his Godmother rushed forth with her large star-topped wand (shaped suspiciously like a certain Sakura Morimoto's staff)and waved it around. A heavy pile of cashmere and clingy stuff fell on Kamui's head. He untangled himself and peered at it. "A coat?" Quickly he unfolded it, pushing the ornamental buckles and laces into place...too quickly to see what Hinoto had added on the collar: "I am a yummy bishi please consume me before I go bad". She snickered at her little joke and stopped the boy again. 

"What?" Kamui turned and saw a massive black coach with one of those little statuettes on its top. "Hinoto?"

She poked her head from a window and waved her wand in reply. Three shinigami appeared, grinning Brad Pitt-like grins and in the customary sunglasses and trechcoats of gangsters. "No..."Kamui frowned at the creations. "They'll think I'm some kind of mafia thug." The Dreamgazer sighed and three pretty young men in white ermine fur and, of course, leather, took the place of the mobsters. She added the necessary prancing white horses and handed Kamui into the coach. As her charge rumbled away she shouted "come back at twelve" and sobbed into a wad of tissues pulled from a nearby box. "Oh, my little gender-confused (Author::coughcough::bisexual::coughcough::) child is heading off to his first ball...I'm so proud..."

A/N: well...did ya like it? This was when I was feeling funnier than before...all comments welcome! BTW, CCS isn't mine either...and Brad Pitt belongs to no one, 'course.


	5. The Belle of the Ball

Kamui-rella, or, Candy-coated fluff: Chapter 5

Disclaimers: *rapping* don' own 'em...don' sue me...'cuz i'm not the real CLAMP ya see..."

Some idiotic stuff to hassle you before we start: This portion definitely contains elements of shonen-ai and some very mild ecchi humor...nothing to get all enraged about...(hint-hint in those reviews you write for me :O). Anyway, Subaru and the royal family finally appear. Some changes might have been made in the casting of roles but that was becasue the stupid director messed up. *baps director on his head* Enjoy!

The great hall of the castle was filled with waltz music as Kamui entered, timidly pulling the collar of his coat to his white throat. The footman at the doorway, however, cleared his throat and the nervous boy had to remove his last refuge and hand it to the servant's waiting hand. Then he descended the short flight of steps to the actual dance floor with only his tank top with the very embarassing zipper. But no one seemed to notice; either the guests had decided to aim lower than his Highness off in the corner behind some convenient bushes, or they were focusing all attention to the Prince.

Kamui's eyes naturally traveled with the majority of the others' gazes, and he gasped at the sight of the gorgeous young man who stood in discomfiture in the centre of a gaggle of girls and women and not a few young men (and, of course, older men as well). For the Prince was seraphic in white and silver; his green eyes were reflected in the depths of a single emerald on a chain around his neck and resting snugly in the nook between his collarbones. His inky hair was in soft tufts framing a faultless young face hat was all the more lovely for the touch of angst around his lips and eyes. Kamui took in the Prince, or rather drank him in, enraptured, but started when the green-eyed man found his own eyes. 

He did not know what thoughts were coursing through Subaru's head as they stared at each other, but they were something akin to "wow...that's one pretty man". And since (albeit unknown to the bulk of the citizens)Subaru himself was none too clear on his gender preferences, he was almost as elated as Kamui was. Maybe finally he could forget another man, the one with the bird-of-prey and the milky eye...the one who'd killed his sister...he broke off his thoughts to grin at Queen Karen Kasumi, who returned the gesture, glad that he perennially angsty son was at least happy enough to smile. Kakyou, dozing beside her, blinked, the most strenuous actioity he ever did nowadays. Sometimes, seldom, he would open his eyes and mutter about his favorite child, Hokuto (with whom she suspected he'd had a semi-Freudian relationship) or about some strange person named Hinoto. "She's going bad," he mumbled once, late at night. She suspected some sort of liasion there but didn't say anything. After all, since Hokuto-chan had died he'd been in a coma. Whatever Hinoto and he did behind her back, it wasn't physical.

Subaru started to push aside the rings of people around him and make for the small violet-eyed boy with the look of a dark-haired angel. Kamui watched as the Prince made slow headway against the pile of humanity; actually he saw only the green-eyed man. He in fact quite ignored all others, including Yuzuriha and Kusanagi, who'd once sold Subaru and his parents Pocky and had so been invited, and his own stepfamily. Kanoe hadn't recognized him either; she was too busy playing with Yuuto. Satsuki'd found an outlet somewhere and was talking to the sleeping BEAST. Fuuma was nowhere to be seen.

Just as the Prince had introduced himself, however, a man with an eyepatch grabbed his white-clad elbow. Subaru stared helplessly at Kamui as he was dragged away by the mysterious stranger (in designer suit and coat as usual). The Prince hadn't disappeared into the crowd for long when Fuuma came out of nowhere and seized Kamui's wrist and pulled him off to the bathroom to indulge in nibbling(on Fuuma's part) and crying(on Kamui's part). As the midnight tolling of the bells began, Kamui started to leave. "Hey!" Fuuma called after his slightly bedraggled stepsibling, "are you going to be here tomorrow too?" Kamui's heart started to beat somewhat hopefully; he'd sunk into despair when he saw Fuuma, but perhaps his sadist brother hadn't realized who the angsty victim of his little assualt was. He snuck one lingering glance at the Prince, looking pretty depressed himself as he danced with the eyepatched man, and left.

That night Kamui suffered from insomnia; he could not close his eyes without seeing the Prince. Hinoto'd promised him upon his return that she'd "fix him up" for the next two balls also, but he could not imagine such a long stretch of hours until seeing the Prince again...

A/N: wellwellwell...our favorite Bishonen of Angst has appeared...and soon some of the randomness will start to make sense. Coming soon to a manorhouse near you: Chapter 6 and Chapter 7, Belle of the Ball #2 and #3 respectively. Please review!!!!! *makes her Subaru plushie wave at everybody* 


	6. Belle of the Ball #2

Kamui-rella, or, Candy-coated fluff: Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Nothing of X or anything thereof belongs to me! Only the twisted plot does...

Some Stupidity to start you off: Please, all comments welcome. This chapter, like the preceding one, has some mild hints of shonen-ai/yaoi. But of course, the main couple is Kam/Sub, although there is some Fuuma/Kam and Sei/Sub thrown in. So if you don't like shonen-ai, read no further. Enjoy!

Kamui woke late the morning after the ball; his eyes felt achy. The morning was crisp but not too chill, and there was a blessed quiet; his stepfamily had probably come home in the small hours of the morning, long after he'd left the castle. He smiled to himself for a little, remembering the Prince and his green-eyed smile. Tonight he would not let Fuuma interrupt.

Kanoe languidly appeared after noon, her hair disordered and Yuuto under one arm. "Good morning," she said, unusually civil. "I notice you failed to wash the clothes."

Kamui's eyes went wide. It was true; he'd fallen asleep as soon as he had closed his eyes. A wheedling fear nagged him. Would she know where he'd gone?....

Evidently the late hours she'd kept were addling her head, for she merely sneered and added three more outfits to the pile. "You'll have to do these to, then." She turned and went back upstairs.

Nothing else happened until about three in the afternoon; Satsuki shouted" Kamui-rella, come help me lace my dress" and the boy dropped his laundry soap and went.

His stepsister was halfway in a dun-green dress with laces up the front and both the sleeves. Satsuki glared at him when she looked up. "I see you didn't polish Beast." She smiled thinly. "Good luck trying that today." Her computer made a sound of clear menace, and Kamui stepped as far away from it as he could. Just as he finished the last lace Fuuma opened the door and dragged him out, ostensibly to help Fuuma with his tie.

Once Fuuma had closed the door firmly, he snarled, "Why didn't you clena Shinken?"

Kamui whimpered at the sight of the sword, which Fuuma was waving in his face.

"Well...since I had such a nice time last night..." Fuuma grinned his trademark malicious grin. "But don't forget tonight, little Kamui-rella." he nibbled his stepbrother's neck daintily and let Kamui return, pale-faced, to the mountain of laundry.

They departed near dusk, Kanoe decked out in scarlet and stiletto heels (her gown not much wider than the aforementioned stiletto), Satsuki in her laboriously fastened dress, wearing contacts again. Fuuma was in midnight blue, his pressed white lawn tie immaculate(When Satsuki marveled at its remarkable straightness Fuuma had laughed and told her Kamui-rella was quite handy with such things). Kamui watched them carry Yuuto (who resembled King Kakyou by now) out and into the coach which rumbled away on clods of dirtied snow. He gave them ten minutes to leave fully and then ran to the tombstone, where Hintoto was sitting. She went inside with him, that little glint in her eye, and ordered a bath. Kamui was then doused in herb-scented water, scrubbed with rose soap until his jade-white skin shone like the moon. "Lovely," she pronounced, and as he stepped from the magical tub she indicated a heap of white on a chair. "Put these on." He blushed faintly as he did so, for the shirt was of translucent plastic, and for all its fine cut left him feeling embarassingly bare. The long cargo trousers were marginally better,being of rather clingy velvet. His tie was even worse: it read "get rid of me, handsome". After repeated demands from her godson, Hinoto grudgingly shrunk the lettering until it was barely readable. But his boots tied with mock chains, and if one cared to look closely enough, the label was "bondage, inc."

Finally Kamui left the manor, to find that Hinoto had conjured up a large white coach which was inlaid with panels of sheer plastic to match its occupant's outfit. The footman was in a silver tunic and the horses glistened in the winter sunset. As they rattled off Hinoto sobbed into a lacy handkerchief. She was crying when Kusanagi tapped her on the shoulder. "Eh?" she gasped. "Yuzu-chan? Kusanagi-san?" She embraced them. "So, the gang fell apart after I went.."

Yuzuriha nodded somberly. "Yes. We don't know where Nataku-kun...eh, Nataku-chan...went. But the Sakurazukamori is close by, as is Yuuto." She told Hinoto of Kanoe and Satsuki's obvious infatuation with the watermaster. "And then there's Fuuma-san, Satsuki. And...that's it."

Hinoto nodded. Although she'd never been a real member of the Chi No Ryuu gang, she'd hung out with them in her younger, more foolish days. Yuzuriha only knew of Kusanagi, and so also not a real member. Fuuma was the leader and so rarely went on "missions". Kanoe, back in her unmarried days, had been extrememly lenient with her children's comings and goings. They returned to the manorhouse to bathe in nostalgia.

Meanwhile, Kamui was dancing with the Prince. It was a rapid dance, which did not allow for much conversation, but both were content with the simple sight of his partner. Kamui had forgotten about his tie and obsequious top, and Subaru, in green a few shades darker than his eyes, smiled at the younger man. Not too far away, two others watched this romantic interlude with some aggrievement. One was the Sakurazukamori, who was still wearing his patch. The other was Fuuma, fingering his tie and belligerent. The former was bemused, entertaining the thought of the green-eyed prince with another; the latter was somewhat annoyed, for he'd wanted another few hours with the violet-eyed beauty.

But the two dancers were wholly immersed in each other. The Queen, watching, smiled. Perhaps her son would find happiness with the adorable boy; he had gone without love for so long. Nataku, her adopted child, was sitting alone in a corner, and Karen slipped to the young man...girl...(A/N: uhhhh...."."())...thing...and knelt so that she saw his...her...its...eyes. "Nataku, dear, what's the matter?"

The biologically engineered being sighed. "I'm lonely."

"Oh." Karen patted his...its knee. "I'm sure there are plenty of young men...people..willing to dance with you, dear."

Nataku considered for a while and nodded. He...it went and bowed to a young man, who, startled, accepted. Karen, smiling more earnestly now, went back to her seat.

A new dance started, slow and passionate. Kamui tightened his hold on Subaru's shoulders (which were just within reach), and the Prince, smiling uncontrollably, grasped the lovely violet-eyed boy's waist more firmly. Suddenly, he thought of something and lowered his face so that his lips were near Kamui's ear. "What is your name?"

Kamui opened his mouth involuntaily but then swallowed his words. He could not tell the Prince..he would be beaten by Kanoe, certainly, and Fuuma...but he couldn't lie to Subaru either. The Prince blinked gravely at him, but a small bright lover's smile lit at the corners of his mouth. "I..."

Thankfully the midnight strokes of the bells began, and Kamui tore himself (painfully) from Subaru's hold and ran for the coach. The Prince called after him, despairing, "Sir!.."

He jumped from the coach just as the last of Hinoto's magic died away. She herself was there, astounded, for Kamui's face was red and tears slid down his cheeks, dropping form his faultless chin. "Hinoto..." he clutched her sleeve like a small boy and drew in a deep shuddering breath. "The Prince asked my name...and I...I...couldn't tell him.."

She made a small coo of pity and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Kamui-chan..." she smiled at him. "Go tell him tomorrow."

"N-no...I couldn't. Kanoe...and Fuuma would..." he broke off, sniffling.

Hinoto's voice was fierce, but he knew the fury wasn't for him. "They WON'T." She drew her wand, anger trembling her arm. "They certainly will NOT." She nodded at her ward. "Tomorrow.."

Yuzuriha and Kusanagi fed the boy some warm stew, and put him to bed. But he caught at Yuzuriha's wrist and murmured about laundry. "Oh, it's fine," she laughed cheerily. "Kusanagi-san and I are at work on it. Hinoto's helping also." Kamui smiled as she left, but when she was gone he let two tears fall. "Arigatou..." he fell asleep and dreamt of Subaru's hands.

A/N: heehee...did you like? Please write a review...oh yeah, only one more ball to go, and Subaru still doesn't know Kamui's name! what suspense!! *grins* stay tuned for the next episode! 


	7. Belle of the Ball #3

Untitled Document

Kamui-rella, or, Candy-coated Fluff: Ch.7

Disclaimer: Nothing of X and its related stuff is mine; CLAMP-sama owns them all...the twisting of the characters is mine, however.

Warning! If you don't like Kamui and Subaru together please don't read this fic! For this chapter is the last ball, and therefore the climax of the story. Exclamation points aside, hope you like. Review any way you want; constructive criticism would be nice.

Kamui woke slowly, letting white light filter slowly into his eyes. He lay, as usual, before the fireplace, but in his heart there was a most unusual pain, a brassy ache. Propping himself up on an elbow, he wondered if it was a bruise. But then Hinoto flashed before his eyes, a silly grin on her face, and he remembered the green-eyed Prince.

Quite awake now, he found his feet and stumbled to the stove, where he heated some porridge to the point of carciogenic blackness (because he was too busy staring off into the middle distance and thinking of the feel of the Prince's hands on his waist) and then consumed it with equal indifference. Fuuma stamped in around midday and grumbled when presented with another blackened bowl of food. "What _is_ this?"

"Oh..lunch.." Kamui drifted about his stepbrother/tormentor and sat, listless.

"You look awfully happy," snarled Fuuma. "Did you have fun with the laundry last night?"

Kamui almost told him who the real source of his pleasure was before remembering and nodded, close to giggles.

Fuuma picked at what was edible in his bowl and then left, presumably to prepare for the last ball. Satsuki and Kanoe peered in at the boy whose face was luminous with joy and anticipation, somewhat startled. When they left that dusk they did not assign him chores; instead they simply rushed out, almost afraid of the beautiful creature stirring some soup in the kitchen, brightness making his rags appear as grand as silk.

Hinoto came earlier than before, and she looked more gleeful than ever, her blue-white robe hitched up past her elbows, probably because of the huge tub she carried, filled with many ribbons and baubles, not to mention bundles upon bundles of anoynmous brown paper.

She watched him goggle at her packages as she unloaded them; once or twice he flushed at some of the things she extracted and stuck in a purse of white velvet and pearl. "Do you really think I'll..we'll need that?..." Hinoto nodded, adamant. "Oh...fine then..." Kamui was too lost in reverie to care anyway. But that ache still pushed at his breastbone unrelentingly, and when Hinoto scrubbed him free of ash and dirt he did not protest. Wondering at his docility, she asked, gentle, "What's holding your mind?"

"The Prince," Kamui blurted before he thought, and flushed to the lobes of his ears.

"Oh..." Hinoto smiled. "So you do love him?"

Kamui got even redder. "Uhh...uhhh..."

"Never mind that." She handed him a strange bottle and told him to gargle its contents, and when he did this she continued. "So you're worried about what your nasty demon of a stepmother will do to you if you tell this to your Prince?"

The boy nodded, still crimson.

Hinoto seized one shoulder and sighed as her fingers rubbed against the rise of an easily felt bone. He was so _thin_. "You go to the ball, Kamui-kun. Forget Kanoe and her oni children and only watch the eyes of your lovely Prince. All right? Are we agreed?" He nodded, mute with almost maidenly chagrin, and said, sheepishly, "He looks familiar."

"Oh?" Hinoto was smiling again. "How so?"

"After...after okaa-san died..." this was apparently difficult for Kamui to tell, "I sort of...fell asleep for a while. And then...then...someone came to wake me up. He looked like the Prince."

Hinoto made a sage noise. "He was."

Kamui gave a small start and then said nothing as she finished dressing him, tonight in a psuedo-bridal white complete with lace at his throat. Velvet and pearl draped him in a smoothly tailored coat with silver chains for fasteners and a fillet chain with a diamond at its center around his gently tousled hair. But the grandest part of this costume had to be the crystal shoes. More accurately, as Hinoto detailed, they were _Austrian_ crystal, worth a king's fortune, and not magical. "So when you and that green-eyed Prince of yours get married...you'll have my gift." Kamui had blushed and tried them on, and of course they'd fit perfectly to his feet, which were whiter than the lace and silver. And, to his great befuddlement, they did not break. Hinoto merely winked when he queried at this and sent him off in a crystal coach with grey stallions and servants in grey silk and fleece. As they cantered away, Yuzuriha joined Hinoto in waving.

The castle was draped in gold and silver, for this was the last of the balls. And the Queen paced on her royal dais, unsettled. Her son had not imparted that he'd found a suitable partner, though he had danced with more than a few of the attending young people, out of courtesy or actual interest she could not tell. That amethyst-eyed boy from the first two nights had been the only who'd truly captured Subaru's attention, she thought, but couldn't bring herself to ask. And so she paced, waiting for the boy in question to arrive at this final dance. Nataku swayed by in a stately waltz, in the arms of a tall boy with tufted black hair falling over his eyes. At least Nataku-chan...kun...has found someone. She smiled at them graciously.

A series of footsteps down the stairs--she turned, and saw with relief that the seeming focus of Subaru's attentions had arrived. He was white as the falling snow outside in his finery, and she nearly had to turn away for the brightness. Subaru, she noted with some motherly pride, was already at the boy's side, and was bowing.

"...please." The Prince straightened, and took Kamui's gloved hand. Kamui murmured "yes", blushing a tad, and the Prince grinned, slid off the glove (most sensually, thought the owner of said glove) and kissed the hand below the cloth. Both pink in the cheeks, they spun onto the dance floor.

Seishirou Sakurazuka watched them gracefully follow the steps of a _torrette du tokyo_, a current favorite. Beside him was one of Subaru's servants, some cheerful blond boy with a forgettable name. "Kei....rou?..." He started lazily, lifting the customary cigarette to his thin lips.

"No, it's Keichii, sir." Keichii bowed. Seishirou sneered. The boy liked to bow. "Keichii then. Go fetch that man down there..with Prince..ss...Nataku."

Keichii promptly did so, and Fuuma laughed at the asassin. "Sei-san!" The two men exchanged looks that were a blend of calculation and distrust, which for them was nothing short of sheer friendliness. "Did you buy the ice cream cone?" Fuuma asked, smiling his lying sweet smile.

"Oh yes...but I see you've got better treats." Seishirou motioned vaguely in the direction of Nataku, who was playing with a ribbon. "Yes...indeed," Fuuma answered gravely, and they both laughed. After a bit Seishirou asked, "D'you know that kid with the Prince?"

Fuuma glanced. "Oh...I played with him at the first ball. He's very delicate...firm...like a sort of crispy sour-sweet apple. Quite nice." He grinned. "Nice indeed. Looks like his Highness will be next to taste the apple." Seishirou smiled thinly. "Yes."

Subaru, in fact, was not quite so elevated in the speech of his thoughts at that point. Kamui's soft hair smelled quite like strawberries...and some tropical fruit. Tangy. Kamui himself wanted to compliment the Prince's launderers, for the golden-yellow silk and velvet smelled of delicious flowers, ripe and budding. Both were totally lost to the outside world; only the sense of each other mattered. At the end of the dreamy nocturne they'd been twirling to, Subaru grabbed the smaller boy's hand and led him outside a door. Kamui, dazed, let him.

The night was stinging, insistent, but mild for that country's winter. A hazy moon lay in the embrace of night, watching the couples who shuffled through the gardens below. For that was where the Prince had led his partner; Subaru walked silently, elated, until they reached a labryinth of hedges. He turned, still unspeaking, until they reached a bench of ebony and marble in the shapes of cupids and small round cherubs. And then he reached out a tentative arm and pulled Kamui to him.

They sat (or half-sat, in Kamui's case) for a while, again lost in the world of two. But a question was nagging at Subaru and so he returned. "What is your name..?"

Kamui started, stopped, started when he remembered Hinoto's promise. But caution kept him from telling the truth.. "Ryuu."

Subaru seemed to taste the name. "And...have I seen you before?"

A small breath of fear. And then a smaller sigh of relief and frustration (at his need for lies). "At the ball last night, or course, Highness." A false smile that tore at him for its falseness.

Subaru smiled, also a false smile, but only becauase of his urgency. "No..." his eyes turned inward as he tried to recollect the past meeting. "Ah!...You're the son of that kind businessman who sold Piffle Princess things!"

The son of the kind businessman drew in a sudden breath. "No..no.." he touched Subaru's face. Then, with his fingertips still on skin, he remembered Hinoto, again promising him fervently, and took another breath. "I mean...yes." He nodded slowly. "That was Father."

"Was?..."Subaru started, but he was interrupted by the chime of the midnight bells. Kamui got to his feet, drawing away with difficulty from the Prince's presence, and ran. At the entrance of the labryinth he stumbled but kept running, aware that his rich clothing was rapidly disintegrating into rags. Only until he reached the spot whre the coach had been did he realize that he had lost his right shoe, the one of Austrian crystal. He got to the manor very cold and wet and had to take deep breaths to keep himself from sobbing aloud. The prince...no, Subaru's face was taut with astonishment, as it had been when Kamui had run away. When Hinoto came, cheerily, he was beyond her consolation.

Meanwhile, in the castle....

Nataku smiled in his childlike way, head cushioned on Fuuma's knee. Seishirou was quiet, with Subaru pacing between them all. "How could he leave?" 

The Sakurazukamori leered. "Perhaps his mother was waiting. Perhaps he had an urgent errand."

"But he didn't even say goodbye..."Subaru cradled his head in his arms, leaning against a pillar. "Now I'll never find him..."

Keichii suddenly appeared from behind a tangled of ferns in a porcelain pot. "You Highness, I found this in the Labryinth. "In his outstreched hand was a glass shoe, tiny and exquisite. Subaru's eyes went wide. "It must be..his." He wove through the crowded dance floor, holding the shoe to his heart, and conferred with the Queen. Fuuma watched as they seemed to reach some sort of decision. "Well Nataku-chan...this just gets so interesting, eh?"

Nataku nodded.

A/N: Well well! The action reaches a peak! Review and I might hurry with the next chapter! Also, I'm considering a sequel to this story...tell me if I should write one!


	8. The End(?)

Untitled Document

Kamui-rella, or, Candy-coated fluff Ch.8

Disclaimer: Don't even think about suing me...you just thought about it!! Don't even think it!!

A/N: This should be the final chapter of my twisted fic; maybe I will write a sequel/epilogue later...sorry that I haven't updated for so long, lots of other things have been taking up my time. *Turns chibi and bows* Gomenasai minna-san!

The chill winter air was sharp with frost as the green-eyed man rode across the snowy courtyard. The others who followed him ran to the door of the manor they had stopped before and thumped with mittened fists on the splintering wood and then blew on their hands, stamping their feet. The rider dismounted and went to the door himself just as it opened. 

Subaru had the misfortune to meet Kanoe right after she'd emerged from her room in a state of nature. _Ye gods_, he thought, _if this is the housekeeper then I'm probably not going to have a very easy time of this_."Good morning, madam," he bowed (very deeply) at her, doing his best to ignore the scanty clothing and the chains and whips she held in both hands. "May I be shown the children?"

Kanoe sneered. "Why, do you want to eat them, your _Highness_?" 

"Eh...no," Subaru replied quickly before his mind could spring to unhealthy fantasies. "I would like to see if any of them can wear this. " He took the glass shoe from his coat and handed it to her for inspection. After a few minutes she gave it back, a grin on her face so wide it would have shamed the Chesire cat. "Please do come in, sir." As the Prince and his entourage did so she curtsied at each of them in turn and provided a face-warming view of her cleavage each time. (Keiichi, who entered last, actually turned his face as he went by.)

Very promptly she'd lined up the children; Fuuma glared from a corner, Satsuki (with Yuuto under one arm as though he were a instruction manual) yawned and fiddled with her glasses. "Here they are, sir," said Kanoe, who'd put the usual gallon of mousse into her hair and who now tossed it about in all its chow mein-like waviness. Subaru chewed his lip. The tall one didn't look small enough...the girl's glasses and apathetic face eliminated her....and the hostess herself was nothing like the shy boy with purple eyes and fruit-scented hair. "Uh, are there any more....?" Subaru prompted, hesitant. He couldn't be sure if this older woman was the mother or the housekeeper...Ryuu hadn't mentioned anyone aside from his father. 

Kanoe thought for a moment, not of whether she should show the Prince Kamui-rella but of how much she could pawn off the shoe for. At least a couple million yen, she decided, and put on her saccarine-imbued smile. "Of course." As the stupid boy waited with his servants, she went to find the two Pocky people.

Yuzuriha stumbled into the foyer, confused, and gasped at the sight of the Prince. After a bow she put her hand in Inuki's ruff, a nervous habit, and said, very faintly, "How may we assist you, sir?" Kusanagi rumbled something similar behind her. 

Subaru didn't actually hear them; he saw no trace of the one he searched for in any of these people. Starting to become frantic, he demanded, "Any more?" if he couldn't find Ryuu here...he'd have to look in the neighboring countries...for his own had already been scoured clean, searched so much that he imagined it as a desert in which he was trying to find one gem. 

Kanoe scowled. This Prince was more insistent than she'd imagined; she'd have to show him Kamui-rella or he might fine her, or imprison her, or even kill her. "Kamui-rella!" She shouted, and waited as the boy slipped from Fuuma's room (where he had been polishing the Shinken for the fifteenth time that day) and crept down the stairs. No one saw Subaru's face turn a terrible gray; the name was unfamiliar to him--he must continue this search which was eating him steadily...he put a hand to the wall and thought he would faint.

Kamui was almost unrecognizable; his fair skin was dark with ashes and polish; streaks of soot were in his hair; the violet eyes were fatigued and lidded. So when the Prince saw him dimly through the haze of hopelessness, there was no recognition. Kanoe pushed her stepson forward. "This is Kamui-rella, sir. He is a menial servant, quite unworthy of any test. For your inspection."

Subaru weakly nodded and gave Keichii the shoe with a near-habitual movement. The latter knelt and placed it before Fuuma, who'd already seated himself. Subaru, despite his despair, chuckled inwardly when he saw how huge Fuuma's foot seemed next to the tiny bit of crystal. Satsuki was marginally closer to a decent fit, but even she could only wedge her toes into the shoe. Yuzuriha refused to try, and Kusanagi grinned and shook his head, displaying one enormous size 22 shoe for the Prince to see. So there was only the cinder-covered Kamui left. When Subaru bent and put the shoe before him, the tears were a hair's breadth from spilling over, but he closed his eyes and blindly sat, lifting one foot. 

The Prince guided Kamui's foot to the shoe with sheer will; already he was contemplating a life of running after Ryuu's lovely shadow and dying in some foreign place alone and desolate. He returned when he heard no disappointed sighs, no one making any sounds, for that matter. Looking down, he saw the servant's grimy foot perfectly through the crystal; as they both stood, Kamui wiped at his face (now with tears parting the ash) and borught out the other shoe from somewhere and put it on. 

Hinoto watched them from behind a corner of the manor as they rode away slowly. "Yes...believe in the force..." she sniffled into a handkerchief with Yuzuriha, who bawled into an agitated Inuki's fur, and Kusanagi, who was pretending he wasn't crying.

^^^^^^

Over the course of the next few months, quite a few weddings took place; Subaru and Kamui had theirs in March, when the buds were first sprouting and the young birds were taking first flights. The only inconvenience, though, was that neither could decide what to wear and how they would be referred to. The Queen overheard an intersting dialogue very late one night as she passed her son's apartments; she later transcribed it and published in in her memoir, _Fire Child: The Story of a Deprived Girl's Rise to Queenhood._ (Buy it today in a bookstore near you! Only 22.99 for a beautiful hardcover volume.) Here it is, as she wrote it:

Male Voice 1: Would you like to be the "bride" or shall I?

Male Voice (?) 2: Su-chan, why don't we both be brides?

Male Voice 1: Hmmm... ::there is a while of silence:: ...good idea. ::another break::

Male Voice 2: ::giggle::

Male Voice 1: *quietly* So, it's decided? White? ::rustling:: And what about a cute little necklace? With engraved words...like "sorry, I'm taken"? 

:: giggles::

Male Voice (?) 2: Oh...and the ring...

::pause::

Male Voice 1: Just wait till you see yours.

::giggles--rustling::

Male Voice (?) 2 : Mine will be even better...

After the Prince and Consort were wedded, Nataku-sama requested permission to marry Fuuma, the Consort's brother. The Queen made a minimal note of this in her autobiography; mostly she discussed the confusion over whether to call the newlyweds the Princess and Consort or the Prince and Consort. (It ended up as "Nat and Fu") Apart from the Royal ceremonies, two Pocky sales respresentatives were also united in matrimony later in the year. Thankfully, there was little confusion over the titling of the couple.

(Excerpt from _A History of the Realm_)

A/N: Hoho, did you like? I may do a sequel thing if someone wants one. Here's the sequel's trailer:

(gloomy music)

*Screams* 

VOICE-OVER: Subaru Sumeragi, happily honeymooning in a small Pacific isle..

(pan of island beach: Subaru and Kamui are making a very large sand castle with little buckets)

(Shadow falls over them; Subaru falls. Close-up of his neck as he kneels and someone pokes his eye out)

*Kamui screams*

VOICE-OVER: Coming soon..._I Know The World's Going to End This Summer..._

::ahem:: anyway...review please! As always, constructive criticism is welcomed!!


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